STREAMING OPTIONS
The first age of smart TVS has passed. get ready for a significant second coming
Using Google’s Chromecast and our pick of the top TV streaming services
Not so long ago – some time after the explosion in Hd tvs and somewhere before the industry’s fling with 3d-capable tvs – the smart tv was marketed as the thing to have. It was an exciting time. Combining interactive applications and streaming service connectivity directly into TV hardware, all accessible from your remote control, felt like a revelation. Until, that is, you settled down to actually use one.
There were the usual problems of platform inconsistency; there is not one ‘smart TV’, and most manufacturers run their own platform, meaning not all streaming apps are available for all TVs, and their appearance and functionality can vary wildly depending on the TV they’re running on. Most TVs, again at the beginning, were not able to dedicate a huge amount of processing power to smart functionality, making menu navigation a syrupy and unpleasant experience. And some manufacturers were so pleased with their smart functions that they put them literally right in the way, forcing you to wade through an initial menu to actually get to a plugged-in source.
We can’t tell you for certain that these things are going to change or improve. They probably won’t, and the better options – three of which we’ve looked at on the next page – will likely remain better options. But we can tell you that the industry has a renewed focus on smart TV, and it might have something to do with a recent change in attitude from Apple.
On the big screen
In January this year, Samsung announced that smart TVs from its 2018 line onwards would be upgraded both to play Apple’s iTunes movie line-up and to include Airplay 2 support – at the time, this was the first third-party support deal Apple had ever made for its video content. It wasn’t the last: similar deals with LG, Sony and Vizio followed, some even going as far as including HomeKit support.
This may seem like a minor deal. It is not. Apple’s presence on our screens has the potential not only to revitalise the image of smart TV, but to up its usage. As Apple’s attitude towards cooperation has softened, so its spending in content has grown: the company has pumped a reported $3 billion into generating exclusive, original content for Apple TV+, a full-scale streaming service to rival Netflix and Amazon Prime, set to launch later this year.
Naturally the service will be available through an iOS app and, most likely, on the Mac desktop and through a web browser too. Apple’s newfound willingness to work with TV manufacturers suggests the company isn’t likely to lock it down by platform, or even only to us Apple users. We don’t know what it will cost – estimates range from £15 a month to TV+ actually being completely free, which (while
highly unlikely) would really put the cat amongst the streaming pigeons – but with a long list of content already announced there’s little chance it won’t make a big impact.
TV+ isn’t Apple’s only trick. It’s also just launched a brand new Apple TV app, which simplifies and pulls together streaming options from a host of different providers as well as essentially integrating the rental and purchasing facilities of iTunes. Landing first on iOS and tvOS devices, shortly after on the latest Samsung smart TVs, and on the Mac later this year, the new app also adds offline viewing support for services like HBO, in some cases marking the first time such services have allowed content downloading. Some might call it stealth marketing – by steering users towards accessing Netflix or Prime Video content through the Apple TV app, the company gets eyes on the TV+ service when it launches.
Getting clever
Smart TV isn’t just changing in terms of the services it carries. Many major players are applying some form of AI to their interfaces as well as their picture processing. LG’s ThinQ screens, for example, can harness Google Assistant and use their own internal brains to offer up intelligent voice control, banishing the frustration of battling through smart TV menus – as long as they really do know what you’re asking for – and adding new functionality.
And the smarter TVs get, the more we’ll be able to do with them using our mobile devices. A growing number of TVs will also get HomeKit and AirPlay 2 integration, while additional features mean greater automation and other functions – so it’s a benefit to both sides. While we don’t think Siri will be built in to our screens any time soon (particularly since the rumours of an Apple TV set have surely been further quashed by this new level of third-party cooperation) the spread of HomeKit does at least mean some level of additional control being made available to Siri on your phone.